


Dr. Bartlet of New Hampshire

by pipisafoat



Series: Abby Lyman [9]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: Gen, Service Animals, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 14:31:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13192083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipisafoat/pseuds/pipisafoat
Summary: "I have a really weird question from Josh."





	Dr. Bartlet of New Hampshire

**Author's Note:**

> happy new year! i'm going away for a terribly long weekend (with my service dog & service dog in training, of course), so you can have this short fluff earlier than planned.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Donna knocks gently on the doorframe after she speaks, but Dr Bartlet holds up one finger without looking away from the report she's reading. After a moment, she waves Donna into a chair without breaking her concentration, and the younger woman takes the chance to relax and purposefully release some tension from her muscles as she waits. She can't exactly say Josh's PTSD is a good thing, but his relaxation exercises have helped her stress levels, too. 

"Sorry, Donna. What do you need? Leo send you?"

Donna smiles at her friend and sometime mentor. "No, ma'am. Actually, I have a really weird question from Josh."

"How is he?" 

She's always envied the older woman her ability to appear genuinely concerned on a personal and medical front while still respecting people's privacy. "He sounds like he's doing well enough," Donna replies after a moment, sure that's both accurate and vague enough to protect the man in question. "I need to be honest with you, ma'am. He's sent me to you with this question and while I have all the background information, he practically begged me not to tell you."

The First Lady laughs and takes a sip from the water glass on her desk. "So you get to know everything, I get to be confused, and Josh Lyman gets to be...."

"Weirdly removed from his own life?" Donna offers. 

"Exactly."

"I'm sure it'll be an adjustment for you, being confused, but the rest of it just a day in the life for Josh Lyman and Donna Moss."

The First Lady laughs again. "Well, let's get this done. What absurd question does Josh have for me today?"

Donna opens her mouth, then shuts it again. She repeats the process once more, then screws her eyes shut and forces the inane words out into her self-imposed darkness. "Do you have any particular attachment to the spelling you use for 'Abbey', and aside from the Blackhawk helicopter, how do you feel about things being named after you?"

The snort of laughter that greets her question is the least professional thing she's ever heard out of Dr Bartlet. "Please tell me he thinks I have no idea how the Dogs of Destiny name their prospects."

"He probably doesn't think you know that's where he is," Donna replies candidly, cautiously opening her eyes again to see the amusement on Dr Bartlet's face. 

"Everyone in Washington knows that Josh Lyman is off for the week getting the first service dog in professional politics." 

"And he'd rather not be taking the attention off the President, off the agenda," Donna replies with more effort to keep an even tone than she'd prefer. "He doesn't see himself as newsworthy and would actually prefer not to get any attention for what he sees as a character flaw."

"Well, he's a bit of an idiot sometimes, isn't he."

The gently mocking tone relaxes Donna again. "Yes, ma'am."

"I can't speak for Congress, but I keep up with Josh because I care about him, not because he's newsworthy. The President feels the same way. Of course we know which service dog school he's using and how they name their puppies. Am I to assume from your questions there's an Abigail Lyman in my future circle of friends?"

Donna wishes Josh would get it through his head that senior staff and the Bartlets give a damn about him for who is he, not what he does. "I'm sure I'm not at liberty to tell you that his new dog is named Abigail Ann Bartlet," she says in a quiet tone, leaning forward and winking. 

"Bartlet-Lyman, I'd guess," the First Lady corrects. "It would be awfully confusing if he didn't make her a little bit different."

"Hence the Abbey question."

"He wants to spell it without the E?"

Donna can't stifle her laugh. "I think he's hoping to just introduce an Abby that's spelled differently from your name and then ... pray you don't ask too many questions?"

"Well, Donna, we'll be sure not to let him get away with that. Would you mind taking some files to Leo's office for me? You may end up the one who deals with them, anyway."


End file.
